Readers of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend slot it into the following categories: Fiction, Fantasy, Contemporary, Young Adult, Adult, Adult Fiction, and Magical Realism. The uncertainty of what this book is might be one of the reasons why I struggled to love this book, its narrator, its plot, and its characters. I questioned several times whether I was truly the intended audience for this book. With that said, I read the book quickly. As I finished, though, I imagined that the only folks I would likely recommend this book to would be middle school readers or parents looking for a book to read to their elementary school child. When I discovered that the author was, in fact, a fifth grade teacher, it made perfect sense to me. Although I know many adults have read this book, even as part of a book club, the book is written (intentionally) in short, choppy sentences from the unique view point of an imaginary friend of a third grader. Kudos to Matthew Dicks for the creation of the creative narrator! But the straddling between reality and fantasy was a tough sell for me - I would have been a much happier reader if Oswald had not intervened in the plot line. I wanted to see just Budo and Max figure this problem out by themselves. In the end, this book left me in the middle of the road. ( )

I have no memory of it unfortunately, but according to my mom I definitely had a clear cut imaginary friend when I was younger. There’s no way of knowing if he was a simple kind, the kind you’d see in Fosters for Imaginary Friends or maybe like the Family Circus. I am sure he was nothing like Budo in Matthew Dick‘s absolutely fascinating and captivating “memoirs of an imaginary friend” though.

If I had to guess at my imaginary friend I’d assume he was just as human as Budo though, probably taller than me and more athletic, someone to discuss cartoons with in the morning, because ya know… who wants to talk to themselves? Still I am sure he was nothing like Budo, but whose to know. There is a chance that Matthew Dicks has delved into something we’ll never be able to prove with this novel. Maybe they aren’t as imaginary as we think… maybe they just live in a different realm.

While Budo is the voice and perspective of “memoirs”, he is not the lead character , that would be Max, a very special boy, whose actual diagnosis is never completely disclosed. He shows signs of autism, and possibly Asperger’s. I am not fully aware of either disease. I have a friend who is a very low spectrum of the autistic bend and my father used to work with special needs children, but my own real experience is minimal other than having an immense respect for any child or adult who doesn’t let it stop them achieving a regular life full of work, love, fun and friends.

We know Max doesn’t like to be touched, he doesn’t like people or at least most people, he is very stringent in his ways and he has trouble expressing emotions. When he faces something new or different he gets stuck, like an empty wall. I saw it in my mind sort of like Tommy staring at a pinball machine, the entire world shut out and focus almost seems non-existent and in Max’s case, it being actually completely non focus. He’s very smart when it comes to traditional learning, likes to read, playing with toys, military strategy, building things with LEGOs and of all things pop culture, Star Wars.

As Budo describes both his own life as an Imaginary friend who instead Imaginary as one would think and Max’s difficult life with his parents, teachers, school bullies and more the book grows and turns in very unexpected ways. We meet the teachers, fellow students, other imaginary friends and some of the local residents, all through Budo’s very interesting and eye opening viewpoint.

There are plot twists later into the book that take what was seeming like it a sweet and simple, but written with depth story about caring, love, understanding and growing up into a tense, suspenseful, adventure thriller. That may seem like a huge leap but in context it all comes together brilliantly and in the end you feel like you’ve truly walked away with a higher understanding of growing up as a whole. Dicks also doesn’t leave one hanging on certain conceptual threads, they aren’t clear cut final thesis into the reality (per se) of imagination, death, afterlife and more, but boy does he try and I commend him for it.

I must say I truly like the original ARC cover then the one used in the UK where the book is credited to Matthew Green or the final American cover. That is why it’s the image I chose for this review.

“memoirs of an imaginary friend” came out in the U.S. In August 2012, this review was based on a complimentary Advanced Reader’s Edition. ( )

I think the danger in using a child (or childish) narrator can be that the narration can be childish. That's what I felt happened here. I listened to this as an audiobook and I think that added to the childishness of it. Parts of it felt repetitive and the sentences felt short and broken. On the other hand, it was a suspensful plot and I did love the imagination of the whole imaginary friend world. It also was sort of cool that the story took place in my hometown...which I didn't know until they started listing restaurants I'm familiar with. Apparently the author lives there. ( )

In the voice of an eight-year-old, this novel tells the story of the in-existence-for-five- years Budo, the imaginary friend of Max, an autistic first-grade child. At the opening of the book, Budo clearly explains the differences in Max from a "normal" child, but shows such a loving understanding in doing so that it made me want to jump into the story to also befriend Max. Max is an only child whose parents tend to differ in how best to handle him. Max's idol is one of his teachers, Mrs. Gosk.

When Max suddenly disappears from school, no one knows what to do except Budo, who is determined to figure out what happened to Max. Budo's adventure is so imaginative that it becomes a quest to right a wrong.

Due to the simple narrative, I consider this a young adult book rather than an adult novel, but the story is so endearing, I recommend it for all ages. . ( )

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A tale imparted from the perspective of long-time imaginary friend, Budo, traces his awareness of his advancing age and constant thought of the inevitable day when eight-year-old Max, an autistic boy, will stop believing in him.